PHOENIX (AP) — Reggie Carrillo knows firsthand that where you live can determine how hot your neighborhood gets.
The environmental activist and educator resides in a largely Mexican American area of south-central Phoenix, where segregation once forced Black and Hispanic people to live south of the railroad tracks. More than a half century later, the historic lack of investment means fewer trees and subsequent temperatures 13 degrees F (7 C) higher than wealthier, leafier neighborhoods just a few miles away.
“To understand climate change, to understand the urban heat island effect, you have to understand the history,” said Carrillo, who wants to share that knowledge with his neighbors and help cool the community.
Carrillo has benefited from one of several nonprofit initiatives popping up around the United States to educate and engage residents about climate-fueled heat that disproportionately affects low income neighborhoods of color.
Among the most ambitious is an Urban Heat Leadership Academy launched last year by the Phoenix Revitalization Corporation, a nonprofit community development corporation, and The Nature Conservancy. Better known for preserving natural areas, the nonprofit global conservancy is now also doing more work in urban areas like planting hundreds of trees and overseeing community gardens in Atlanta’s South River neighborhood.